Vicki Thomas, a police officer in Miami, bought groceries for a woman she caught shoplifting because the suspect needed to feed her children.

Here’s how it happened: Jessica Robles was caught wheeling $300 worth of food she didn’t pay for out of a supermarket back in September. When Thomas confronted her, Robles simply said her kids were hungry and she had no money.

Thomas did a quick background check and saw Robles had a pretty clean record, so, instead of arresting her, Thomas elected to buy her $100 worth of food:

I made the decision to buy her some groceries because arresting her wasn't going to solve the problem with her children being hungry.”

Robles said her financial problems have been amplified recently when she boyfriend lost her job. She also says she is very eager to work. As for Thomas' actions, Robles said, "All I wanted to tell her is thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Incidentally, Robles didn’t escape the incident completely unscathed – she was cited for a misdemeanor and must appear in court.